1971 Dodge Challenger 383 - vintage road test

[2Tech12s]

Ha! Check out 2:27 interior mistake - it is clearly a Ford interior shot spliced into the film! A rim-blow Ford steering wheel in front of what looks like a Torino dashboard. Later shots show correct Challenger dash and metal spoke steering wheel.

[TerminatorFRA]

This makes me just laugh, people that are comparing old school muscles to todays cars. Muscle cars were at this time almost the most performant cars. And the other manufacturers that are building the cars you're talking about made only crapy cars at the time.

What will you think now if I tell you that the future KIA super 3000 (for example comming out in 2040) is faster than your opel astra or you nissan skyline of today???

[electrickbodymachine]

AMERICAN CARS! SINCE WHEN UGLY?

I BET 1979?

[Rickjames214]

Such is vintage American Muscle! The day will never come where I shun American muscle like my Dad before me. The only thing I'll ever drive regularly is an American-made V8!

[suirall]

with money tight the curtain may be falling on the SUPERCAR ERA

[alpine1600s]

Yeah! Dig that four wheel drift through the slight turn at 30mph! Look good, but man all those cars were/are CRAP!

[1970ifeelalright]

@alpine1600s This was just a regular Challenger , not the coveted R/T model , and thusly had the non-H.D. suspension , and smaller 14x5.5" wheels on F-70-14's . Had this been the R/T and-or equipped with H.D.

("HEMI") suspension , handlling would've been much cleaner . Another problem was that most power-assisted steering systems back then were seriously over-boosted ( albeit , with a superior 15:1 ratio ) , but the manual steering was a sluggish 22:1 (!!).

[alpine1600s]

@1970ifeelalright Jay leno owns a '71 Hemi Challenger, visit his website. He loves the car, but he'll tell you the build quality was/is crap. If you were to compare a '71 Hemi Challenger to a '71 Nissan Skyline GT-R (KPGC10), both have hemispherical heads, but the GT-R has a DOHC, four valves per cylinder straight six, Prince S20. The 50's and 60's were good for America because the whole world was recovering from WWII. I would hate to imagine the state of our economy if WWII never happened!

[1970ifeelalright]

@alpine1600s LOVE the Skyline series ! Japanese manufactures' build quality has always been top notch even when their materials were less than decent ( I'll gladly take a Toyota Stout , and early Celica and a 240z , please ) . Chrysler's build quality was notoriously horrid , and some plants were even worse ! Most Challengers and Cudas (et al.) were built in the archaic Dodge Brothers Hamtramck plant , with a handful being assembled in the Los Angeles facility (through July '71 when it closed).

[speed150mph]

@alpine1600s HA! and please tell me good sir, what exactly do you drive thats so amazing, probly putting out 200hp or less? probly made out of plastic? probly will cost you a fortune if it breaks just so the mechanic can plug the computer into it and fix the computer chip that was causing your problems? yes, please tell me what fantastic car you drive.

[alpine1600s]

@speed150mph It doesn't matter how much horsepower a car has if it can't harness it. All cars since the 80's have plastic body parts. I have 1980 Mini and a 03 MINI S. The 1980 is much more fun, even though you're going slower, but 35 mph feels like 60 mph. The only car that has fiberglass reinforced plastic body panels since day one is the Corvette. An Astra diesel is faster than most 70's American muscle cars.

[TerminatorFRA]

@alpine1600s Going fast is useless nowadays if you don't want to loose the driving licence. The acceleration is the most important thing today.

[Mito2009]

I love these videos, "the brakes pull too the right", " this stop (more of a crash) took 211 feet".

[johntechwriter]

Fellow Boomer car guys, how did any of us survive the musclecar era?

[DemitriRas]

He sounds like a weird Rod Serling.

[kolbpilot]

How I lusted for cars like these, I was 16 in '74. Never owned one though.

[ocnoc1]

I would like to see old car 0-60 ect..if they had traction..

The times are recorded spinning the tires..

I owned many Mopar's,still do when these were new I went over 140 mph and it was sturdy and braking was good when you had power disks up front,they could stop from 60 at 120 feet !

These cars stop great,but they show 6 panic stops in a row,then the brakes fade,new cars have brake fade as well,remember these stop from 60 in 120 ft .

[Seattlecarnut]

If only today's muscle cars were as much fun as these vintage muscle cars. Today's cars, while they have the looks of these vintage cars, just don't have the muscle or the personality that these early cars did.

[zeppelin67637]

@Seattlecarnut I agree, the newer muscle cars are to hmm refined? They just don't feel right to me. I love the seat of the pants feeling of the old iron.

[Seattlecarnut]

@zeppelin67637 I've never owned a Dodge Challenger or anything of that vintage. That being said, I love the styling and sound of cars like that.

[geiner66]

@Seattlecarnut well they have muscle just dont have the look or personality the new camaro is fast so is the new challenger the old musclecars like this would be hard to brake stop safe or handle safe.todays musclecars handle good get better mileage and are just as fast but you got to love the raw looks of the vintage muscle .

[Seattlecarnut]

@geiner66 I've always preferred the old Camaro and Firebird. If Pontiac hadn't gone under, I'm willing to bet that the Firebird would've looked very much like the vintage Firebird, in a more modern body.

[geiner66]

@Seattlecarnut you ever drive a stock musclecar like this one in video they dont handle very well and braking is terrible but very fun in a straight line

[Seattlecarnut]

@geiner66 It doesn't do anyone much good if it doesn't brake worth shit nor does it handle very well.

[geiner66]

@Seattlecarnut well that car handled and braked good for 1971 standards but is a far cry from todays standards .great cars i wish i had an old challenger love the body style.back in the 60s and 70s it was all about raw horsepower gas was cheap so big blocks were what it was all about.

[Seattlecarnut]

@geiner66 I agree. I love the style of the late 60s and early 70s American cars, but with the safety and handling of today's cars.

[geiner66]

@Seattlecarnut yeah them old musclecars were raw power back then.cars are more sophistated now and are fast also but they do lack the character of the old muscle cars.the high gas prices killed the musclecar ultimately along with strict goverment regulations.unfortunately now people are driving hondahs toyato and eclipse all gay names and cars too bad!!!

[OlegKostoglatov]

@geiner66 Actually the insurance companies killed the musclecar long before the Arab oil embargo, the presenter even mentions that. It wasn't unheard of for an insurance company to charge $4000 a year premiums for a teenage rich kid to drive a Corvette in that era. It was so bad that the car companies sometimes lowballed the horsepower ratings of their engines just so their buyers could get insurance.

[TheNebraskan]

I'm loving those bald tires

[camaroman101]

So wide, so low, so beautiful

[samsdad900]

to bad the tires werent better back then, would have helped the handling...GREAT CAR

[broot4u]

Like to see a Civic hit the 0 to 70 numbers here.

Cars nowadays allow for much better handling (Seventies cars had one issue, steering at high speeds or hard stops). That being said, despite their thirst, you couldn't match the speeds or "soul" of a true muscle car.

Smaller engines may now achieve higher horses, but there's something to be said for the guttural rumble of a 71 six pack as it tells the world "The road, she's mine, baby!"

No amount of tuning can bring "that" to the table!

[Enigmalast]

"sucking chunks of atmosphere" = priceless.

[stephmc111]

lol roadability

[sohc77]

J love this car this cat is a part of my heart

[halflife103]

i know people arent fans of the 71 Javelin but my father has one sitting in our yard its the 401... its nice to know that it wasn't far off from this legendary car.

i cant wait for him to insure it again.... for someone of my age (18) you dont see to many of these muscle cars; well... pony car around... but still.... for someone of my age possible getting to drive one or even ride in one... its a good feeling.

[culcun]

@halflife103 Any AMC muscle car is a rare car. They never sold in big numbers, probably due to the fact that they were quarky in some ways, and the fact that they seemed to concentrate more on road racing vs. drag racing (my theory, but look at the late 60's AMC performance cars). The popular muscle cars were drag cars, and all concentration seemed to be on 1/4 mile times rather than handling.

[halflife103]

@culcun hmm well that makes sense.

[culcun]

@halflife103 did you see these same films about the '69 AMX and the '71 Javelin?

[halflife103]

@culcun not the 69.. theres one of those in my yard too XD

[culcun]

@halflife103 I used to see the AMX's advertised back in the 80's for $3500 or more in the L.A. area-- a little too much for my college student/working at a restaurant income, and the fact that other muscle cars were half that. But that is how rare I remember the AMC cars. I had a beat up '78 Trans Am, and a '74 Ramcharger with a 440, and then got into newer used muscle via the 5.0's of the mid 80's/early 90's.

[culcun]

@halflife103 And the '69 road test video is more exciting than the '71 javelin, but both are good viewing. On my screen right now, it is to the right under the 'suggestions' list.

[halflife103]

@culcun mhmm nothing wrong about learning about teh past.

[Corkoth55]

1:00 lol was that an emergency stop?? oh ABS you've done us well :)

[NotYour94Ranger]

@Corkoth55 Ironically, ABS lengthens stopping distances over threshold braking. It's modern brake pads, brake fluid, and larger rotor diameters that help modern cars keep the wheels from locking up, allowing for shorter non-ABS stops.

[hvrock13]

Mann my dad had this car back in the late 70's in high school.. Bought it with a custom stripe paint job, only seen a few pictures of it but it was badass. Guess he was street racing on it and he blew the engine though, so he bought a new one from the junkyard, him and a friend threw it in the challenger, then sold it off after awhile. Supposedly it pretty much sucked after that.. but what do you expect from 2 20 year olds changing an engine? Still, I wish he woulda kept it..

[halflife103]

@hvrock13 yeah.... our fathers had the best cars... XD

[IXIBobOhIXI]

Bud Lindemann is now on my list of people to crack open a beer with in the afterlife.

[harley1450000]

bud was way cool

[matrox]

The track times are so misleading. Look at all the wheel spin. 3 seconds wasted.

[idontlikecops1]

ima honda fan and tuner fan but danm do i love mucles cars

[BNforever2009]

think you could find a 69 Dodge Super Bee 383 4 speed for me?

[somewhatlongdong]

I'm not really a Chrysler a guy, but I certainly understand the emotional appeal of the 71 Challenger, and the 2010 Challenger. They are very hard not to like.

[BNforever2009]

to have a 440 cid Mopar, i think i would be real old and 1 year left to live when i do own of these things. To end up with a Dodge Neon--a plain jane-boring and a 4 cylinder i would end up with one at anytime. To have a 426 Hemi---it'll never happen because most of the rich guys own them including Jay Leno and Reggie Jackson and maybe a few of those lying politicians. Dont forget, those baserball, football, basketball and soccer players that play professional and pro wrestlers too.

[BNforever2009]

I do know that the 383 was no slouch, it was right up there with the 440. I still would like to have a 69 Dodge Super Bee with a 383 and 4 speed, 3.91 sure grip rear end, dual exhaust, power steering, radio delete. that thing would still beat the piss out of these modern day muscle cars and imports.

[kowalskideahl]

@BNforever2009 I got one buddy, matching numbers i'm restoring right now. And just had delivered today a vey nice restorable 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE factory air and 4 speed with no motor and trans but I have an original 1970 dodge 440 six pack engine and 4 speed trans for it.

[CRUISOMATIC]

The car shown seems not to be an R/T! Didn't know non-R/T-challengers came with the 383 engine?? I wonder if it had heavy duty suspension ?

[harley1450000]

@CRUISOMATIC love the 4 gear and the a/c,great cruiser

[TheLizardKing1967]

Great video

[crayman31]

I like the clouds of powder coming off the tyres :/

[Corkoth55]

that car is soooooo hot. i'd kill for a 71 R/T

[daytonasunset]

@Corkoth55 Yeah, '71 is the best model year

[kowalskideahl]

@daytonasunset No i'm afraid not buddy 1970 is but 71 is ny next choice, a good looking car too but I like my 70 better.

[daytonasunset]

@kowalskideahl Well that's a personal choise dude, i have a '70 and two '71's, i prefer the '71... the grill and taillights are better shaped than the '70, and i like the smoother seatupholstery in a '71...

[kowalskideahl]

@daytonasunset Nah man the 70 is the most sought after but like I said I have no problem whatsoever about the 71 at all but I hate the 72 73 and 74, They should have just stopped making them after 71. The 70 has that one awesome gas pedal that kinda reminds you of a big GMC truck pedal, "the only year with it" the last year and "only" with the challenger to have the reverse thread lugs on driver side, "SO RACEY and H.P." and the 70 year models have that again "racey" recessed grill. So sexy.

[culcun]

It was teenagers driving American muscle cars that inadvertently created drifting, LOL

[MrTommyUdo]

Looked like the tires were made out of butter.

[israel25a]

@MrTommyUdo haha that's the same i thought when i saw the vid

[jeb909]

Evidently, I'm not the only one who noticed the part of the video that wasn't a Challenger. I'm pretty sure that the other car was a '70 or '71 Torino. The steering wheel looks like a Ford "rimblow". Miradart is right about the Ford side-view mirrors. Also, notice the sweep gauges with the arched shape at the top. I'm about as sure as I can be that those gauges were from a Torino.

[GindianappolisJones]

@SirUlrichVonLichtens @Miradart - What you two ain't commented on is the drivers shirt changes from white to pink, as well as the wheel etc

[leach442]

Those tires suck . . you can see them fall apart as he pushes the car! That car seems out of control and unsafe!

[Miradart]

Hey, check out the 'extra' footage at 2:25. The interior shot with the guy whipping the wheel back and forth, is from a different car! I can't quite tell, but I think it's a Ford. The side mirror looks Ford-ish. Definitely not a Challenger!

I REALLY love these old vids! Corny copy, booboo'd film clip, wild car maneuvers and everything! It takes me back.

Thanks for posting.

Anyone know what that mystery car is? It has a column shift, but sport mirrors

[SirUlrichVonLichtens]

@Miradart yeagh WTF that is a totally different car, mirrors, wheel, shifter...thats messed up. gunna share it at work see if the car guys know

[F6HemiCharger]

I hate those tires. What was Goodyear seliing?!

[barrett50]

Interior shot at 2:25 isn't even a Challenger.

[426brandon]

why does it have a 1970 plate???

[MoparJay]

71 model years rolled off the assembly line Aug. of 1970. So the plate is correct.

[brobinson75]

Good try by Dodge to ressurect the new Challenger, but the new one is just too tall and big.

[iplayveryloud]

@brobinson75 i agree. however watch a video of the concept new challenger. its much better then the one they ended up releasing. its not as tall. slightly different grill cage

[Doobie1975]

nice car, very fast for it being a 383 powered Challenger, I wonder how well the 440 powered Challenger's would've done in the 0-60mph times?

[DiscoKat]

Not a whole lot better. The 383 and 440 differ the most in deck height. The 440 has more power, but the 383 was (an is) basically, a factory stroker. Their ability to rev and produce torque right off the bat are amazing. I've seen many a 440 car have it's ass handed to it by a 383 powered car.

[Doobie1975]

I've never known that a 383 powered car would be able to beat a 440 powered car, are the 383's lighter than the 440's? I once heard that there is a noticable amount of weight between the 340 powered cars and the 383 powered cars

[DiscoKat]

383 and 440 are almost identical in weight, might be 15-20 lbs between the two. 383 is a "B" engine while the 440 is an "RB" engine. The only major difference is the deck height (440 has longer stroke)

However, a good running 383, with the right gears and a smart driver can walk all over a 440-4bbl. Remember, there's only 40hp difference between the 383-4bbl and 440-4bbl.

[va4rebs]

I didn't know about the 40hp difference between the 383 & 440. Mine is a 340 4-barrel. Thanks for the info!

[DiscoKat]

Well, I'm just quoting what the factory rated them on paper.Now that I think about it, I think horsepower was even lower for '71.

Pretty sure this was how 1971 looked:

340 was 270 hp

383 was @ 325 hp

440 was 370 hp

440+6 was 390 hp

426 was 425 hp

[mustangcharger]

No real reason to get the 440-6. Hemi was, is and will always be...The King.

[Mikejesmike]

@DiscoKat  As installed in the car the 383 was making 250 hp and the torque was 325. The 440-4bbl was making 305 hp and the torque was 400. So the difference is 55 hp, if compared to a 440-6bbl the difference is 85 hp, since that engine made 330 hp and the torque was 410.

[DiscoKat]

@Mikejesmike Your numbers sound like Net horsepower. I was quoting Gross HP numbers from factory literature.

[Mikejesmike]

@DiscoKat Yep they are which is why I said as installed. Gross Hp isn't going to matter much unless you're racing 2 engines on a dyno haha. A 440 4bbl may have been rated 370 hp in 1971 and a 440 6bbl was rated 385 but that was a difference of 15 on the dyno. Once installed the 4 bbl made 305 hp and the 6bbl made 330. So the guy driving the 6bbl ended up with 25 more hp. The difference between a 440 6bbl and a 426 hemi was even less 330 vs 350.

[ProfessorIgor]

nope, nada... a 440 will walk a 383 unquestionably. and a 383 is about 5lbs lighter

[dbonanno]

It's funny, when people think of muscle cars, they usually think of the Challenger and the Charger, but the Olds 442 was faster to 70mph by nearly a second and it handled and braked better, too. And imo, it looked better, which is saying a lot.

[hamtrak]

looked better? dream on,looked like an old mans car. :(

[426brandon]

looked better??? what are you looking at??

[F6HemiCharger]

This video shows why Firestone was better than Goodyear.

[Blackcuda]

Tires and brakes were awful in those days, with modern day tires installed these cars are a blast to drive.

[spotbelly]

awful? not if you learned on them..

[UFO29]

Word, mount some decent sway bars, shocks and new bushings and they can handle quite well. A big issue is the brake bias front-rear. Nasty tendency to lock up the rear first, scary as hell on wet roads. Easy to remedy though...

[Hammerhead451]

All that torque...AND THOSE SKINNY TIRES!!

[426brandon]

the chellenger and 70-71 cudas had to be the sexiest cars of the time, and still are!

[spamanator666]

Those are some righteous zip leather ankle boots on the test driver!

[RocketFast321]

What the heck where tires made out of day in the day.

[volkscom]

polyester!

[mozeby]

Butter

[Fania54]

'Vanishing Point'

[SHEGOTADONKKK]

Sweet